September 2013

September is the second wettest month in our location. We have had periods of steady rain but also weeks at a time without rain.

It is a month that did not seem to register a lot of activity.  Nikki is heading to Okinawa soon during the term break. Dani is now in Spain and smiling Jack is in Chile. Dani has hit the ground running and seems content with her situation albeit it is only a week.

Helen has been busy teaching an increasing number of students and organizing events for the Women’s Association. We had an tour of one of the regular cruise boats that come to Penang. It was one of the boats owned by Genting, the Casino operators and it also has a heavy emphasis on gambling. The ship is 25 years old and the décor dates it to that period. I am not impressed with cruising and that sort of environment…..unless seabirds are flying close to the ship. The tour around the ship however was well done and entertaining.

Looking towards the Penang Bridge from the cruise ship

Looking towards Straits Quay

A rain shower passes over Penang Hill

Life boats on the cruise ship (they can hold over 100 persons)

The rather small swimming pool

The crew playing basketball

Most photography has been done on the computer as the weather is moist and bird activity is slow. I note that the migratory birds have started to arrive on the foreshore and I had a very nice encounter with the local Barn Owl around 6.30am in the morning this week.

The main event for me was that I went back to Merapoh (an entry to Taman Negara) for 5 nights with two friends from Singapore. They drove up and I drove down. As it is the wet season I expected a few disruptions but the weather generally behaved. The nearby jungle has many interesting citizens but they don’t hang about on deck chairs at the edge of the road. A local driver told us he spotted a tiger a week prior to our visit. Nick is into mammals and reptiles; Horst is a sound recorder and photographer and has excellent bush skills. Together it is a nice combination of skills and interests. I took a bar fridge in the back of the SUV and this was great to keep the beer cool for one thing…but butter, bread and meat lasts a lot longer. 

The bar fridge in place

Where tigers roam

There is not much food choice locally with a few family restaurants providing local fare only.  ie there are no listings on the Michelin Guide. You get used to Nasi Goreng and ordering things in Malay. The village of Meraphoh is 7km from the settlement where we stayed and on the way back we did some spotlighting in the ubiquitous palm plantations. 

Small-toothed Civet (photo by Nick Baker)

Palm Civet (photo by Nick Baker)

Leopard Cat (photo by Nick Baker)

Most nights we saw interesting things including Leopard cats and various Civet species. My main mission was to photograph some Banded Pittas. Pittas are generally colourful birds of the forest floor or mangroves. The target family had three chicks but only one had survived. They can be lured into a feed of mealworms by playing their calls. Noticeably other birds had adapted to this action and at least seven different species reacted to the ‘dinner gong’. The light in the forest floor can be very dim and only late generation cameras can handle these conditions without getting an image that is a grainy mess. It is best to sit in a hide but I found just by sitting still the birds took no notice of my presence. Sitting in a hide in a Malaysian jungle with mosquitos and leeches seeking a meal is not a lot of fun. 

I was happy to get both adults in one frame. As usual it is nice waking up to the calls of the Gibbons and several species of hornbills. I could do without the Asian squat toilet and cold showers.

Banded Pitta pair. Female on the left.

The surviving chick

We got a driver to take us 14km into the jungle to see if we could spot more of the Hairy-nosed Otters. Nick sat for three hours without a sighting. He later sighted, and photographed, one in the river behind our accommodation. It thus appears this otter species, which has not been sighted for decades in this area and reasonably well established  For bird photography ....other than using lures, you need a fruiting tree when various species will come from miles around to feast. There were no seriously fruiting trees on this trip......which is why we were intent on photographing butterflies puddling as an alternative. (Butterflies will puddle....associate in large numbers...... if there is a concentration of some nutrient or salt that they are partial to.). It has to be added that butterfly photographers sometimes pee to get this phenomena occurring. 

Nick waits patiently

Nick and Horst (he was at Flinders at the same time as me)

A Five-barred Swordtail

As usual I drove through the Cameron Highlands and took more shots of the random plastic development there. When the temperature rises with lower altitudes the bush is cleared for palm oil…..so the trees are generally on a hiding to nothing.

The plastic disease of Cameron Highlands (all plastic hot-houses and many mud slides

The beautiful forest is cleared randomly to grow fruit and vegetables in the cooler climate

At slightly lower altitudes the bush is cleared for palm oil plantations

We have had three sets of houseguests this month, so we are steady in that direction. We have had a German family book for 8 nights over Christmas. The son is working here for six months so came around to check things out.

The hirsute little girl is going well. She is in good health and is as inquisitive as ever. Her latest trick is to lie wrapped around your neck when you are watching TV….like those fox stoles women used to wear……in the olde dayes.

Friends

On the sports front; The America’s Cup was strange….it appears there were as many Kiwis on the Oracle side and if it was horse racing there would be an appearance before the stewards. I have just watched both of the Rugby Championship games and can sum things up in two statements;

(              The Aussies owe Robbie Deans an apology

(              The scrums are a total shambles.